SIG '556-R' 7.62x39

This is a discussion on SIG '556-R' 7.62x39 within the Defensive Rifles & Shotgun Discussion forums, part of the Related Topics category; As reported by American Rifleman:
SIG556 R
1/18/2011
SIG Sauer had their new SIG556 R on hand to show off, and with good reason. Based ...

SIG '556-R' 7.62x39

As reported by American Rifleman:

SIG556 R
1/18/2011

SIG Sauer had their new SIG556 R on hand to show off, and with good reason. Based on the SIG556 platform, the SIG556 R is chambered in 7.62x39 mm, and features a gas-piston, rotating bolt operating system. The 1 in 9.5" twist in the 16-inch barrel helps to give it greater accuracy than standard AK-style rifles. Originally designed with the special forces operator in mind, the SIG556 R is designed to accept most AK magazines. The MSRP is $1266.

Below, Shooting Illustrated's Adam Hegenstaller had a chance to chat with Product Manager David Grimshaw about some of the key features of the 556 R.

7.62x39 ammo is crazy plentiful and _cheap_ relative to 7.62x51 and .308, never mind that being .30 caliber it's lawful in most states for taking big game from deer and bear up to moose and elk...Just as .30-30 and .308 are.

Running out of this non-AK (barrel wobble) platform which has internals most akin to an FN FAL, this should be the cats meow in the areas of Tonka toy reliability as well as hunting capable accuracy when the shooter selects the proper projectile for a given game type and distance.

I hope they make an 'SCM' variant for those of us who live in suck states.

IMHO this now invalidates with a single blow the S&W 5.54R as well as the benefit in spending coin on either an improved Saiga or a WASR or purchase of an SKS for hunting.

In one gun platform you've got the best of all worlds, and it'll run regular AK mags at that....Coming with a lifetime Sig warranty.
Wait a year for prices to drop and these things will no doubt be $900 by Q4/Q1 '12...Just as with the 5.56 chambered 556.

I have a dedicated AR upper in 7.62x39,I have encountered 2 problems with this profile,broken extractors,the steel cased ammo is hard on extractors,and the Bolt is basically a reamed out 223 bolt and I have had a barrel lug break off,A new bolt is around 60.00 a pop,extractors aren't too pricey,but I'm thinking about switching the barrel and bolt back to 5.56

You cant reach this rifles potential with the red dot sight that comes with it, get some glass and you will be happy.
The great thing is you run AK's like I do, you can swap magazines between them and everyone is happy.
I can see this filling the role of a DM rifle if you have nice glass on it. Thats just a scope off a 30-30 I pulled 10 minutes before going to the range.
A good scope and you very well might push 300m and out.
Thanks
Averageman

Ironically it was in Nov. and through Dec. that I was looking for a box-fed semi-auto .30 caliber carbine to use for hunting, and as the market then was narrow I was thinking to go with an AR (eghad!) with a top end chambered in the new .300 AAC Black cartridge as supported by Freedom Group.

News of this option though now being real rather than vaporware (rumor about a .30 caliber 556 variant has been going for three years now!), pretty much to my mind invalidates that as well.

I LOVE the ergonomics of the 556 platform as relative to an AR, and an AK.
Also it's fully ambidextrous...Woot!

I don't care that it weighs a pound more than same configuration AR...So does an AK/SKS, FAL and an M1A/M14 or for that matter most shotguns and I don't see folk whining much about weight as carried a mile in the field there...As that is more than made up by all the other operating system plusses.
Besides that's what they make slings and protein shakes for.

Already people are whining that it doesn't come with irons.
I say so what...Not like folk aren't gonna swap them out and go with after market anyway, or simply run a red dot and/or a magnifier if not glass outright.
Myself I'd slap yet another Primary Arms RDS on it (same as on my 556 carbine and my shotgun), zero for 100 yds. and call it a day.
I'd supplement with either a 3x magnifier on the cheap or an SWFA 'Super Sniper' scope ($400) and a bipod toward longer distance target shooting.

I wonder how difficult and costly it is to locate MA legal 10 rd. AK mags as well as hunting regulation allowable 5 rd. shorty mags.

I wonder how difficult and costly it is to locate MA legal 10 rd. AK mags as well as hunting regulation allowable 5 rd. shorty mags.

That will not be an impediment, Mr. Janq. Just go ask around on the AK forums and you'll have plenty of offers, or let me know if that doesn't pan out. They s/b easy to find. I have some of both, I just haven't counted recently.

"He went on two legs, wore clothes and was a human being, but nevertheless he was in reality a wolf of the Steppes. He had learned a good deal . . . and was a fairly clever fellow. What he had not learned, however, was this: to find contentment in himself and his own life. The cause of this apparently was that at the bottom of his heart he knew all the time (or thought he knew) that he was in reality not a man, but a wolf of the Steppes."

SIG Sauer To Offer 556 Carbine In 7.62x39
The 7.62x39 cartridge offers a big savings in ammo cost, which should help officers get more range time.
November 24, 2010 | by Brian Ostro

...On average, the 7.62x39 bullet weighs twice that of a .223 and about 35 percent heavier than the heaviest 5.56 NATO rounds. Depending on the amount of powder, a 7.62x39 has a muzzle velocity of 2300-2438 feet per second, while the 5.56/.223 travels at 2750-3800 fps....

...The 7.62x39 makes perfect sense, because it bridges the gap between the far more expensive .223 and .308 chambering. At approximately $5 per box of 20 rounds, that's 25 cents a round and probably 12-18 cents, if purchased in bulk. This price point will enable officers to practice far more than they normally do. Lower price is a great motivator toward more practice.

I have seen it with hundreds of my students. In today's economy, it is sometimes the difference between practicing and not, considering the .223 is twice the price and the .308 is three times the price. The Russians and the Chinese are pumping out the 7.62x39 by the multi-millions. The AK-47 is by far the most widely used rifle platform in human history and continues to be used by over 75 nations to this day. Ammo is plentiful and abundant.

My first introduction to a centerfire rifle was a $65 Chinese SKS with a beat-up wood stock. Price point and availability were the main reasons. Most young shooters are introduced to a .22 rimfire rifle first, and to a cheap centerfire second. I suspect at least two-thirds of the people reading this have owned or currently own an SKS or AK-47 clone....

...I think it is possible for SWAT operators and patrol officers to obtain a "general" degree of accuracy with the 7.62x39 by using a precision platform such as the SIG 556 and augmenting the sight picture with a quality laser light such as an Aimpoint, Crimson Trace, or EOTech-type holographic and illuminated sight systems and red/green dots.

Sighting with your ammo brand will be key and so will extensive practice. With a sugested retail price of roughly $1,700 for the .223 version, the SIG 556 in 7.62x39 fills a needed gap between the more expensive .223 and .308. For agencies and officers with the need for an inexpensive hard-hitting penetrator beyond the .223, the SIG 556 in 7.62x39 is a good option.

"To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." Ted Nugent

If you're limited to no more than 10 rounds, seems to me that a .30-30 lever gun might be a good substitute...at a much lower price point.

While the semi-auto has the advantage of faster follow-up shots at close range, as the range increases, there is little functional difference between a semi-auto and a lever, pump, or bolt action - skillfully run. Where I live (suburban area) there are homes all around, so any defensive shot would need to be well aimed. That nullifies some of the advantages of the semi-auto for me, and made the lever gun a viable choice. As far as hunting goes - I think a 150-170 gr .30-30 should give you better results than the typical 7.62 x 39 bullet.

A man fires a rifle for many years, and he goes to war. And afterward he turns the rifle in at the armory, and he believes he's finished with the rifle. But no matter what else he might do with his hands - love a woman, build a house, change his son's diaper - his hands remember the rifle.

"He went on two legs, wore clothes and was a human being, but nevertheless he was in reality a wolf of the Steppes. He had learned a good deal . . . and was a fairly clever fellow. What he had not learned, however, was this: to find contentment in himself and his own life. The cause of this apparently was that at the bottom of his heart he knew all the time (or thought he knew) that he was in reality not a man, but a wolf of the Steppes."